how to build a content strategy to maximize results

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GENUINELY USEFUL

CONTENT B u i l d i n g a L o n g - Te r m C o n t e n t S t r a t e g y t h a t W i l l H e l p Yo u

M a x i m i z e R e s u l t s w i t h S o c i a l M e d i a , G o o g l e a n d S E O .

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GENUINELY USEFUL CONTENT: Building a Long-Term Content Strategy that Will Help You

Maximize Results with Social Media, Google and SEO

Marcel Santilli @santilli

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Why is my content getting no love in social or search?

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How can I make my content strategy work with limited resources?

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Or you might just be in the wrong room and your content strategy is perfect.

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Don’t have a “bartender” mentality when it comes to your content strategy.

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Have a “personal trainer” mentality

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What is CONTENT?

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It’s about consistently delivering information that is valuable and helpful to your

audience.

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•  Valuable •  Useful •  Contextual and relevant •  Easy to consume •  Device agnostic •  Shareable •  Findable •  Non-intrusive •  Builds trust and authority

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The problem is that too often content becomes just an afterthought.

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So how is IBM Security building a long-term content strategy?

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Don’t underestimate the discovery phase.

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How are you going to create value for your audience and help them?

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Define customer-facing objectives first.

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Measure everything from the beginning.

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Track ROI to give your content program more respect.

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Some KPIs we are measuring

•  Cost per visit/view •  Engagement per visit •  Visit to response rate •  Average cost per response •  Response to validated lead (VL) •  Average opportunity per visit •  Average opportunity size •  Cost per opportunity

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Define all aspects of your content strategy.

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Defining your content strategy

•  Content objectives •  Content types (articles, videos, etc.) •  Thought leadership vs. technical •  Evergreen vs. news vs. research •  Topics to cover

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Don’t overlook the importance of good web design and UX.

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Let social and search define your site requirements.

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Make sure your content is optimized for sharing on different social networks.

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Think about growth and scalability as you define processes and technology.

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Define roles and responsibilities

•  Program director / Chief editor •  Program manager •  Copy editor •  Social listening & ideation •  Metrics and analysis •  Social media and amplification •  Creative / graphic design •  SEO •  Web maintenance •  PR & AR •  Demand generation

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Define content workflow based on type of content.

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Your success depends on contributors and having the right tools is crucial.

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Have a balanced contributor strategy.

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We went from 30 to 130+ contributors in just over one year.

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Balanced contributor strategy

•  Internal experts •  Internal enthusiasts •  Internal researchers •  Internal executives •  Business partners •  Customers (experts and executives) •  Industry influencers •  Educators / external researchers •  Paid writers / journalists •  Paid influencers

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Streamline how you onboard new contributors. Make it easy!

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Establish guidelines and hold regular training and enablement.

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Don’t settle for mediocre. Instead, empower your contributors and editors.

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Don’t let your program lose creativity. Consistently push the edge and deliver

great content.

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Organized way to manage topics.

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Have a keyword strategy.

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A streamlined publishing and review process.

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And a publishing calendar.

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Have a social distribution and amplification plan.

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Connect back to high value lead generation opportunities.

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Always be optimizing for search.

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Always be optimizing for search.

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Integrate with other marketing efforts.

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What about the results?

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KPIs and benchmarking.

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450% Increase in traffic YTY

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432% Increase in traffic from

search since May

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1 in 10 Visit turn into an engagement

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16% Visits turn into an action

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3.5% Visits turn into a marketing

response.

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10,794 Number of responses

generated so far this year

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58% Lower cost per response than

paid search.

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69% Lower cost per response than

content syndication.

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2X Average opportunity size than average for division

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1200% ROI On track if we close 25% of the opportunities generated by YE

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Where are we headed?

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7 key lessons to remember

1.  Build a program that is scalable with right tools and processes 2.  Create a great user experience with search and social in mind 3.  Focus on a balanced contributor strategy 4.  Measure everything from the start and connect back to revenue 5.  Consistently create content that become essential for your audience 6.  Connect back to lead gen with high value offers 7.  Be creative and don’t settle for mediocre!

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Connect with me!

Marcel Santilli Twitter.com/santilli Linkedin.com/in/marcelsantilli